The Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference football season kicked off with a top-10 showdown that lived up to the hype.

Landon Varnes threw four touchdown passes and ran for another score to lead No. 10 Mississippi Gulf Coast to a 34-28 come-from-behind victory over No. 2 East Mississippi on Thursday.

Former Vicksburg High star Tyler Henderson caught five passes for a team-high 66 yards and a touchdown for Gulf Coast. Warren Central alum Trey Hall rushed for 90 yards and caught two passes for 13 yards.

Henderson’s 10-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter opened the scoring, but East Mississippi built a 28-21 lead in the fourth quarter. EMCC quarterback Ty Keyes passed for 230 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score.

Varnes threw a 10-yard TD pass to Lester Miller with 5:50 remaining to tie the game, and then ran for a 1-yard score with 2:57 left to put Gulf Coast ahead 34-28.

Varnes finished 21-of-32 passing for 233 yards.

Another Warren Central alum, Zack Evans, recovered a fumble on a muffed punt snap at the EMCC 14-yard line to set up the winning touchdown.

“There’s a few teams who are always really good, and East is the headliner,” Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. “It’s an important win, a big win. It gives our kids confidence, but it’s one win. We have a long season, and these kids can’t have a letdown or think we’ve made it. That’s the challenge for them and us as coaches.”

FOOTBALL | @LandonVarnes finds @tloading4k for 6⃣ pic.twitter.com/dTq1Yt09Jo

— MGCCC Athletics (@MGCCCBulldogs) August 30, 2024

FOOTBALL | Blocked punt! Recovered by @zackevaans! Bulldogs back in business. pic.twitter.com/13Piron3Sn

— MGCCC Athletics (@MGCCCBulldogs) August 30, 2024

Pearl River 24, Northwest Mississippi 23
Pearl River Community College used a late defensive stand and a missed field goal to finish off a big upset of No. 7 Northwest Mississippi.

Northwest was stopped on three consecutive plays from the 2-yard line with less than three minutes remaining. Kicker Jackson Uselton then pushed his go-ahead field goal attempt wide right and Pearl River got one first down to run out the clock.

Uselton was 1-for-3 on field goal attempts.

Pearl River quarterback Kabe Barnett was only 11-of-25 passing for 94 yards on a rainy night, but threw two touchdown passes and ran for a team-high 65 yards. His 24-yard TD pass to Jacobi Jefferson with 14:39 remaining gave the Wildcats a 24-20 lead.

“So much work went in to get to this point,” Pearl River coach Seth Smith said. “Nobody gave us a chance but us. If there was one piece of that link that wasn’t strong, then we wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

D’mariun Perteet ran for 96 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries for Northwest Mississippi. Hayden Wolfe kicked field goals of 27 and 52 yards. The latter broke a 23-year-old record for the longest field goal in school history.
Pearl River ended a six-game losing streak against Northwest Mississippi that dated to 2009.

Itawamba 10, Hinds 7
Ty Davis threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Tyran Mosley in the second quarter, and Eli Burciaga kicked a 19-yard field goal in the third as Itawamba Community College grinded out a season-opening victory over Hinds.

Hinds only had 188 total yards, including 13 rushing yards on 37 attempts. The Eagles’ touchdown came on a 37-yard pass from Nassir Donohoo to Jamontae Wallace late in the first quarter.

Former Vicksburg High star Kearris Gilliam had one solo tackle for Hinds.

Hinds will host East Mississippi on Sept. 5 at 6:30 p.m. in Raymond.

Jones College 41, Mississippi Delta 9
Gerald Modest ran for 64 yards and a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass, and No. 14 Jones College erupted for 24 points in the second quarter to blow past Mississippi Delta.

Blake Murphy threw two touchdown passes for Jones, and Chase Pinkston had a 47-yard interception return touchdown on the first play of the second quarter.

Copiah-Lincoln 47, Coahoma 0
Deantre Jackson ran for two touchdowns, Jabraxton Boone caught two TD passes, and No. 12 Copiah-Lincoln Community College swamped Coahoma.

Desmond Ray and Que Tillman also scored rushing touchdowns for Co-Lin.

East Central 23, Northeast Mississippi 14
Cade Mangum kicked three field goals in the second half as East Central Community College scored 16 unanswered points to beat Northeast Mississippi.

Mangum hit from 38, 24 and 27 yards, and was also 2-for-2 on PATs. Landon Sims threw two touchdown passes for the Warriors and finished 26-of-40 for 284 yards with no interceptions. Karl Ligon rushed for 136 yards.

Holmes 48, Southwest 31
John Ford completed 28 of 43 passes for 259 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Tavares Wade, to lead Holmes Community College past Southwest Mississippi.

Southwest chopped a 17-point deficit to three, 34-31, on Chris Hunter’s 28-yard run early in the fourth quarter. Ford then threw a 9-yard TD pass to Wade with 7:15 remaining and Riley Bishop scored on a 43-yard punt return with 2:30 left to seal it for Holmes.

Hunter finished with 54 rushing yards and a TD on 10 carries for Southwest. Jalen Williams also had 54 yards and two touchdowns.